STAN CHOE, Associated Press
A currency trader watches monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. Shares are mixed in Asia, where Chinese markets advanced after a government investment fund said it would step up stock purchases. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking higher Tuesday as the bond market calms down following some sharp swings.
The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in early trading, a day after slipping from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 119 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.
Stocks have been under some pressure recently as hints keep arriving that the Federal Reserve likely won’t deliver cuts to interest rates as soon as traders had hoped. The economy has remained remarkably solid, even though the Fed has jacked up rates to slow it and inflation down. That has pushed some forecasts for the first easing of rates from March into the summer.
If easier interest rates in the short term won’t boost stock prices, the hope is that strong profits by companies will.
Eli Lilly climbed 2.7% after reporting better profit and revenue for the last three months of 2023 than analysts expected. It’s benefiting from soaring demand for its weight-loss and diabetes treatments, and it gave a forecast for revenue in the upcoming year that topped analysts’ estimates.
GE Healthcare Technologies was another winner, up 6.9%, after reporting healthier profit and revenue than expected.
Palantir Technologies, one of the companies that’s been riding a frenzy on Wall Street about artificial-intelligence technology, jumped 23.9% after its results for the latest quarter roughly matched analysts’ expectations.
Streaming music and podcast platform Spotify jumped 9.1% after it reported stronger-than-expected growth in its subscriber base, even as revenue missed analyst targets.
They helped to offset a 7% tumble for FMC, whose products help protect crops. The company’s profit and revenue fell short of analysts’ projections, in part because of drought conditions in Brazil.
With earnings season at about the midway point, there are still plenty of heavyweights reporting this week including CVS Health, The Walt Disney Co. and PepsiCo.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury relaxed a bit and calmed following its slingshot ride higher in recent days. It slipped to 4.14% from 4.17% late Monday.
Strong reports on the job market, U.S. services industries and other areas of the economy have pushed yields higher, up from 3.88% earlier this month.
In stock markets abroad, Chinese indexes soared following the latest measures announced to prop up what have been some of the world’s worst-performing markets. Investors are hoping for even more action from the government.
Stocks leaped 4% in Hong Kong and 3.2% in Shanghai, though they’re both still down by more than 5% for the young year so far. Worries about a weak economic recovery and troubles in the real-estate industry have dragged on Chinese stocks.
Stocks were mixed and moved more modestly elsewhere in Asia and in Europe.
In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.7% after shares of energy giant BP jumped following its latest earnings report.
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AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.
